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LouisianaUS History

Module 1: Reconstruction, the West, and the Gilded Age

6 dot points across 6 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How did a new wave of immigration and the explosive growth of cities reshape the United States in the Gilded Age?

Analyze the causes and effects of the new immigration and urbanization in the late nineteenth century, including push and pull factors, the growth of cities, nativism, and political machines (Louisiana Student Standards for Social Studies, US History Standard 2: Western Expansion to Progressivism).
A LEAP-level answer on Gilded Age immigration and urbanization for the Louisiana US History test: old versus new immigration, push and pull factors, Ellis and Angel Islands, the growth of cities and tenements, nativism and the Chinese Exclusion Act, and political machines, with worked source questions.
12 min answer →

How did industrialization and the rise of big business transform the United States after the Civil War?

Analyze the causes and effects of late nineteenth century industrialization, the rise of big business and entrepreneurs such as Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller, trusts and monopolies, and the debate between captains of industry and robber barons (Louisiana Student Standards for Social Studies, US History Standard 2: Western Expansion to Progressivism).
A LEAP-level answer on Gilded Age industrialization for the Louisiana US History test: the causes of rapid industrial growth, the rise of big business, Carnegie and Rockefeller, vertical and horizontal integration, trusts and monopolies, and the captains of industry versus robber barons debate, with worked source questions.
12 min answer →

How did workers and farmers organize to fight back against the power of big business in the Gilded Age?

Analyze the rise of the labor movement and the Populist movement in response to industrialization, including labor unions, major strikes, laissez-faire government, the Grange, and the Populist platform (Louisiana Student Standards for Social Studies, US History Standard 2: Western Expansion to Progressivism).
A LEAP-level answer on Gilded Age labor and Populism for the Louisiana US History test: working conditions and labor unions, the AFL and Samuel Gompers, major strikes, laissez-faire government, the Grange, the Populist Party platform, free silver, and the election of 1896, with worked source questions.
12 min answer →

How did Louisiana become the birthplace of the legal foundation of segregation in the Gilded Age?

Analyze the rise of Jim Crow and disenfranchisement in Louisiana and the South, including the Louisiana Separate Car Act, Plessy v. Ferguson, the grandfather clause, and the New South economy (Louisiana Student Standards for Social Studies, US History Standard 2: Western Expansion to Progressivism).
A LEAP-level answer on Louisiana and Jim Crow for the Louisiana US History test: the Louisiana Separate Car Act, Plessy v. Ferguson and separate but equal, the 1898 grandfather clause and disenfranchisement, sharecropping in the New South, and the national pattern of segregation, with worked source questions.
12 min answer →

How did the nation rebuild after the Civil War, and why did Reconstruction's promise of equality collapse into the segregated New South?

Analyze the goals, achievements, and failures of Reconstruction, the Reconstruction Amendments, and the rise of the segregated New South (Louisiana Student Standards for Social Studies, US History Standard 2: Western Expansion to Progressivism).
A LEAP-level answer on Reconstruction for the Louisiana US History test: the goals and plans for rebuilding the South, the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, the achievements and failures of Reconstruction, the Compromise of 1877, and the rise of the segregated New South, with worked source questions.
13 min answer →

How did the settlement of the West transform the American economy and devastate the Plains Indians?

Analyze the causes and effects of westward expansion after the Civil War, including the transcontinental railroad, the Homestead Act, the closing of the frontier, and federal policy toward American Indians (Louisiana Student Standards for Social Studies, US History Standard 2: Western Expansion to Progressivism).
A LEAP-level answer on westward expansion for the Louisiana US History test: the transcontinental railroad, the Homestead Act, miners, ranchers, and farmers, the destruction of the buffalo, the Plains Indian wars, the Dawes Act, and the closing of the frontier, with worked source questions.
12 min answer →